California Stadiums Look to Go the Whole Nine Yards

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor
A $1.2 billion investment is about to hit Los Angeles. The massive cash infusion will come as a result of the city council’s approval of a non-binding agreement for the construction of a state-of-the-art stadium. Talks [...]

A $1.2 billion investment is about to hit Los Angeles. The massive cash infusion will come as a result of the city council’s approval of a non-binding agreement for the construction of a state-of-the-art stadium. Talks have taken place over the past few months regarding the acquisition of the naming rights, and now development of the new facility, tentatively dubbed Farmers Field, is ready to begin.

The project will be privately financed, with $1.2 billion needed by developer AEG. Environmental impact studies have still to be conducted, and AEG must also find a franchise willing to relocate to the City of Angels. The prospect is a difficult one, as the NFL does not anticipate expansions in the near future.

Although a preferred outcome would involve the move of an existing California franchise to L.A., right now it doesn’t look like the Chargers, 49ers or Raiders are leaving their homes anytime soon. San Francisco and Santa Clara are battling to get stadium projects ready for the 49ers, while local authorities in Oakland are looking to revamp the O.co vicinity as well as the aging stadium in an effort to keep the Raiders in the Bay Area (previously discussed on the San Francisco city page).

San Diego is also currently looking into design options and possible funding for its own stadium structure, according to an article compiled by fellow local expert Gabriel Circiog for the San Diego city page. It looks like the City in Motion is joining the stadium space race that is going on in the state of California.